An affordable housing bill championed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani is officially dead in the City Council after failing to win sufficient support, including from new Speaker Julie Menin, to overcome a last-minute veto by former Mayor Eric Adams.
Mamdani’s office on Wednesday conceded defeat for the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, which would give nonprofits and some private developers first dibs on distressed apartment buildings, with an eye toward preserving potentially thousands of apartments as affordable units.
…
COPA would allow organizations and housing developers to bid on buildings with serious housing code violations or expiring affordability agreements, for up to three and a half months before they hit the open market. Its backers contend the advance notice is necessary to help maintain such units as affordable.
Adams’ veto came amid stiff opposition from real estate industry and landlord groups, which contend the measure would increase red tape and ultimately reduce the housing supply.
…
Some housing experts had also raised concerns about the scope of the legislation and whether nonprofits are necessarily better equipped to take on more distressed properties.
“There are nonprofit affordable housing owners and operators, great organizations around the city, that today are struggling with the buildings that they have,” said Howard Slatkin, executive director of Citizens Housing and Planning Council. “There are some real, serious financial challenges to subsidize affordable housing.”
